What’s the secret to an endless vacation? MDN featured in “9 tips for becoming a ‘new’ nomad” article

As many as a million Americans now live nomadic lifestyles, and their numbers appear to be growing because of the ailing economy and the aging population. Richard Grant, author of the book American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers and Bullriders says the influx is being fueled from two sides of the income spectrum. At the top end, “it’s people taking early retirement and living on boats, folks with money finding ways to stay on permanent vacation, that sort of thing,” he says. “And at the bottom, travelers who have lost their homes and jobs and don’t want to wait around to find out what’s next.”

1. Find a reason. Most transients have a portable career that allows them to travel freely. They’re consultants, freelancers or teachers, for example. But there are other ways to make money when you’re nomadic. In 2006, Tiffany Owens and her husband became full-time property caretakers. Both had been frustrated with their former careers — she was a magazine editor and he was a cable installer — and needed a break. “Now, I garden instead of sitting in boardroom meetings,” she says. “I couldn’t be happier.”